New Drivetrain for the Trusty Old Sofrider V1

[MrSteve]

Why?
Well, the other day while cleaning the chain, I noticed it was a little bit
too loose on the big ring, so I measured it.
It's borderline trash.
Worn to the brink of worn out ( + 1/8" in a measured foot).

History:
The bike came with an 8-speed granny-gear cassette, a long-cage derailleur and a single little 44-tooth ring up front.
The stock bottom bracket was replaced with a Bontrager ISIS triple: 52, 42, 30-something & 170mm cranks.
I added a clamp-on SRAM top-pull long-cage front derailleur and switched to bar mounted friction shifters.
The bike has gone through about four chains over the years and its transmission really does need a complete overhaul.

Conclusion:
The Sofrider is getting a new 10-speed 11-36 cassette, new ten-speed chain and two big new chain rings up front. The smallest steel front chain ring is very rarely used, so it'll stay.
I measured the original long-cage Alivio rear derailleur, and it's wheels and cage match my much newer
SRAM 10-speed equipment... so it stays.
Both derailleurs will work fine, I'm sure, especially with the bar mounted friction shifters.

So, my old trainer bound bike gets a new lease on life and will now be cross-compatible with its stablemate, the awesome Vendetta.

 

[MrSteve]

The new chainrings fit; new cassette fits; new chain fits.
Adjusted the front derailleur to fit the chain and new rings and it works smoothly.
Adjusted the rear derailleur to fit the new cassette and it works well.
The bike shifts better than it has for years... I'm pleased.

Note:
The freehub is steel and it has held up remarkably well.
The retaining nut was on so tight, I had to break out my breaker bars and jump on them to free up the nut.
I betcha it took over 120 foot-pounds to budge it.
The new 10-speed cluster fit nicely.

 

[MrSteve]

Update:

Since the old Sofrider lives on the trainer ... the old brain finally got wise:
The bike lives on the trainer.
Its function is now to keep me trained.
Although the bike can be ridden on the street in a pinch, that's no longer its primary function.

Dang.
More work for me.
That meant that the perfectly fine friction shifter had to go and get replaced
by that SRAM 10sp. Apex brifter that was just laying in the box doing nothing.
Which meant, in turn, that the perfectly fine original Alivio long cage rear derailleur had to go and get replaced
by that perfectly fine short cage SRAM 10sp. Force derailleur that was lying around.
Which meant, in turn, that the perfectly fine wide-range 10sp. cassette on the bike had to go and get replaced
by the close-ratio 10sp. cassette.
To top it off, there was enough new cable and either good-or-new cable housing lying around to
replace the original cables.

So that's what I did yesterday.
Now I can shift gears on the trainer exactly the same way I shift on the street bike.
Which is nice.
Was it worth it?
Since all of the parts were on hand anyway
(sourced either from the Vendetta parts bin or a road bike I bought for parts a few years ago)
and all I did was labor a little, yes.
It's worth it.

 

[ratz]

Sounds a lot like the 1x11 dedicAted trainer setup I have been contemplating